


A Simple Act of Kindness

by moonlights_glow



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, childhood bullying, the soccer field incident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:47:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlights_glow/pseuds/moonlights_glow
Summary: (Y/N) (L/N) was the kindest person Spencer had ever known. So when her life was being threatened, he was determined to find the person causing her pain.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	A Simple Act of Kindness

_“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” -Mother Teresa_ **  
**

**Las Vegas Public High School, 1993**

Tears stung in the boy’s eyes. His glasses were broken on the ground. His lip hurt and his mouth tasted like blood. He was shaking, both from cold, and complete mortification. The entire student body was standing on the soccer field, laughing and jeering at him. 

“What the hell is wrong with all of you?” a voice said as a girl pushed through the crowd. She stood in front of the boy, blocking his body from the view of all the students. “What did he ever do to you?” 

Spencer knew who you are. Everyone knew you. You were hands-down one of the most popular, and most beautiful girls in school. You were the lead in every school play, you did more volunteer work than anyone in the school, you were one of the smartest kids in the senior class, you were on the tennis team, and you were dating the quarterback.

You looked at the guy laughing at the front of the crowd, your boyfriend, the quarterback. “And you! I can’t believe you, Josh!”

“(Y/N)-”

“No, I don’t care!” you yelled. “We’re done. We’re over. And the rest of you! Get out of here before I call Coach O’Mallory out here! You know I will!” The grumbling students dispersed. When the last one left, you turned to the young boy. “Oh, you must be so cold,” you said, untying his wrists from the goalpost. “Are you alright, Spencer?”

“You- you know my name?” he asked, pulling his clothes back on. 

“Of course I do. Everyone does.” You pulled your sweater off and dabbed the blood off his lip with the sleeve. “Oh, what did they do to your face?” you muttered more to yourself. You picked up Spencer’s glasses and taped the bridge back together with a bandaid. “Here. It’s not the best adhesive, but it works.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Spencer asked you, putting his glasses back on.

“Because being kind is the best thing you can be. Nothing is more important than showing that you care about others. Even a simple act of kindness can change a person’s life. No one deserves the cruelty you just experienced. Especially not when the only thing you’ve done wrong is being a 12-year-old senior.” You closed your kit and tucked it back in your school bag. “Do you want me to call your mom to come pick you up?”

Spencer shook his head. “My mom can’t drive.”

“Okay. Well, what if I drive you home?” you asked him as he picked up the backpack that was much too big for his little body. 

“You’d do that for me?”

“Sure. Come on.” You smiled at him. Spencer looked at you, the setting sun shining in your kind eyes. You were probably the most beautiful girl Spencer had ever seen. Spencer smiled shyly and followed behind you to the student parking lot.

~

**Present Day**

JJ ushered a woman through the BAU, up to Hotch’s office. Spencer only saw the back of the woman’s head, but something about her was familiar. Spencer watched the window to Hotch’s office from his desk.

Hotch stepped out of his office. “Conference room. Now.”

The team scrambled to get to the round table, knowing by Hotch’s tone and demeanor that it was an urgent case. Once everyone settled in, JJ stood in front of the team. 

“This morning, I received a call from a woman, (Y/N) (L/N).” Spencer’s blood ran cold. Now he knew why the woman JJ was with seemed so familiar. “(Y/N) has been receiving letters and gifts for months denoting a stalker, but this morning, she received this.” JJ passed a letter around. Spencer looked at the red lettering.

_You’ll regret ignoring me. I protected you, and you ignored me. And the price for that is your life._

“Is this the first time her life was directly threatened?” Agent Rossi asked. 

“Yes. The other letters she received mostly talk about how he watched over her during the day. They detail her actions and the people she was with.” She passed the other letters around.

“You said he left her gifts?” Morgan asked. 

“Yes. At the beginning, he left her a worn copy of Jane Eyre, with a passage highlighted.” She passed the book around for the team to see. “Then he left her this choker-style necklace, with a J in the center.” Spencer picked up the bag holding the necklace, examining it closely. “Then, two weeks ago, was the strangest one,” JJ said. “A baby blanket and a teddy bear with a missing leg. The note with this one is the most personal, with the most details about her life. And in all of them, he refers to her as _his Juliet._ ”

“The unsub obviously knows her address, so we have to bring her into protective custody. Morgan, will you go inform Anderson that he will be assigned to her protective detail? And Reid, we need you to analyze all the notes for anything you can find on the unsub. Prentiss, you and Rossi are going to gather all the information you can on her life. Work with Garcia to see if anyone stands out.”

“Um, sir?” Spencer asked. “Can I join them? Knowing about her might make analyzing the letters easier.” Hotch just nodded and Spencer followed Prentiss and Rossi to where you were sitting in JJ’s office, your head in your hands. 

Spencer walked over and knelt in front of you. “(Y/N)?”

You looked up slowly. At first, your face was blank, but then recognition glinted in your eyes and you covered your mouth with your hand. “Spencer? Spencer Reid? Oh, my god!”

“Wait, you know each other?” Emily asked. 

“We graduated high school together,” you said. “He was this little scrawny 12-year-old with a backpack that was nearly as big as he was. He was the cutest little thing.” Spencer’s cheeks flushed at your words. “Oh, but look at you now, Spencer. You’re so tall! And you’re working for the FBI. I always knew you were destined for something great.”

Spencer smiled and took your hand in both of his. “We’re gonna find the person doing this to you. But to do that, we have to know everything about your life. Can you help us with that?”

You nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m an open book. Whatever you need to know.”

“Let’s start with the simple things,” Prentiss said. “Work, home life, relationships.”

You gave a sad chuckle. “Well, I don’t have much time for relationships. I’m a lawyer. I represent children, battered women, tough custody cases, that sort of thing.”

“So, no ex-boyfriends that might be holding grudges?” Emily asked. 

You shook your head. “I haven’t dated anyone since my senior year of high school. I mean, that relationship didn’t end _well_ , but I don’t think he’d be capable of this.”

“We’re going to need his name,” Agent Rossi said. 

“Joshua Bennett,” Reid said before you could. “His name is Joshua Bennett.”

“But Josh…” You shook your head. “He was a high school bully, but I don’t think he’d be capable of this. Besides, he’s a married, stay-at-home dad in Oregon.”

“It’s best if we check him out anyway,” Prentiss said. “Now, you said you were a lawyer. We’re going to need to find the records of every case you’ve won.”

You nodded, but didn’t say anything. Spencer heard the shift in your breathing and squeezed your hand. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find him.”

~

Morgan and Prentiss were visiting the places you said you frequented: cafes, restaurants, the local library, a homeless shelter, a food bank, and a community center. They were currently at the homeless shelter, interviewing one of the workers. 

“(Y/N)? (Y/N) (L/N)? Seriously?” the woman, Debbie, said, passing bowls of soup out. “Someone’s trying to hurt her? She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. I don’t think she’s ever even squashed a fly, let alone done something wrong to a person.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not always about right or wrong,” Prentiss said. “There’s no reason that makes sense to us, but it makes sense to him. Are there any men here, around (Y/N)’s age, that seem to pay a little too much attention to her?”

Debbie shook her head. “No. No, I mean, everyone loves her but I can’t think of anyone that would try to hurt her. Besides, she only works afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and she works with the women and children.”

Derek’s phone started ringing. “Thank you,” he said to Debbie, walking to the side with Prentiss to answer the phone. “What do you got for us, babygirl?” he answered. 

“Okay, so I did research on this girl and let me tell you, she is a _saint_ ,” she said. “As in, she makes Mother Teresa look like a cold-hearted bitch. She graduated high school with our dear good doctor, as we previously learned. But then she went to Georgetown for law. She stayed in the area after graduating and she works cases primarily handling children. She makes a lot of money, but she lives in a modest studio apartment. Most of her money is donated to different foundations. Most of her free-time is spent volunteering. And this is probably my favorite part about this woman,” Garcia said. “She’s a foster mom for animals, but she takes in the toughest cases. The ones that shelters feel are helpless. And she finds them homes. Each and every one of them.”

“What about the ex-boyfriend?” Morgan asked. 

“Joshua Bennett was your typical high-school jock. Blond, buff, captain of the football team. It looks like their relationship ended abruptly in late October their senior year. But he turned his life around. He married (Y/N)’s college roommate. They actually had their 10th anniversary two weeks ago. He’s a stay-at-home father in Portland. And according to his social media, his youngest has croup. Oh, poor thing.”

“So, there’s no way he could be involved in any way?” Prentiss asked. 

“Nope.”

“Anyone else in her life stand out, Garcia?” Morgan asked. 

“Not yet. But fret not, my love, I’m still digging.”

“Thanks, Garcia.”

“Penelope out!” 

Morgan sighed and tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Who should we talk to now?”

~

You were pacing in your living room, pulling your sweater closer to your body. You were freezing, despite your warm apartment. Agent Anderson was sitting on your couch, on high alert. When there was a knock at your door, he jumped up. 

“Stay here,” he told you, moving you out of sight of the door. When he peered through the peephole, you saw his posture relax. He opened the door. “Dr. Reid.”

Spencer nodded. “Anderson.” He looked over to you. “How are you holding up, (Y/N)?”

Your arms were wrapped around your body and you shook your head. “What did I do to deserve this? I never wanted to hurt anyone. I always try to be so kind to everyone, I-” you broke yourself off, your throat tightening. 

Spencer walked over to you, looking into your glassy eyes. “Hey. No one deserves this. Ever. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Spencer was well aware that the words he said were almost exactly what you said to him all those years ago. You grabbed Spencer’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

~

The team was digging through your life. And they had a few questions for you that didn’t quite make sense. You were sitting with Agent Hotchner, Spencer, Agent Rossi, and Agent Prentiss. 

“We’ll start at the beginning,” Hotch said. “Your parents. Tell us about them. It says here your father spent some time in jail?”

You smiled a little. “Oh, they were full-blooded hippies,” you said. “You know, peace, love, power to the people. My dad was arrested as a teen for protesting.”

Hotch nodded. “Next thing, your relationship with Mr. Bennett. Why did that end so abruptly?”

You saw Spencer shrink in on himself. You cleared your throat. “You know, normal teenage things,” you lied. “We had an argument and the relationship ended.”

“With all due respect, Ms. (L/N),” Agent Prentiss said, “you’re lying. We need the truth if we’re going to find the unsub.”

Your eyes drifted to Spencer briefly. “Well, he was a high school bully. And he did something that-that didn’t sit right with me. It was beyond cruel. If-if you don’t mind, I’d rather not go into the details.” You nodded to Spencer. “Dr. Reid can tell you. He was there.”

“And lastly, two weeks ago, you went to a women’s health clinic. You have one of the best doctors in the district, why go to a specialist?” Hotch asked you. 

You shifted in the seat. “Well, I-I always wanted to be a mother. I’ve always been very maternal. But I don’t exactly have time to go through the process of dating. You know, finding the right guy, getting married, all that. So I,” you cleared your throat, your face turning red.

Prentiss noticed and took pity on you. “You wanted to have a baby on your own.”

“Yeah,” you whispered, looking down at your feet.

Prentiss reached for your hand. “Hey. It’s nothing to be ashamed about,” she said. “Why don’t we step outside for some air?” You nodded and Prentiss took you to stand outside the building. “Are you alright?” she asked you after you sat down on the steps. “I know having people dig into the intimate details of your life can be stressful.”

You took a deep breath and ran your fingers through your hair. “I’ll be okay. I know you need this to find him. It’s just a lot to handle.”

Emily sat down next to you. “So, what was Reid like in high school?”

~

Morgan busted through your apartment door. Anderson was on the ground, presumed unconscious. 

“We need a medic!” Hotch said into his comms, dropping down to Anderson’s level, checking his pulse. “Anderson?”

“Hotch,” Anderson said, coming to. “He-he took her. I’m sorry.”

When the medics came in, Hotch told the team he was going to ride with Anderson to the hospital. Spencer started pacing in the living room while Morgan and Prentiss started looking for anything that might point to the unsub. 

“Reid. Are you okay?” Morgan asked him. “What’s going on with you?”

Spencer shook his head. “Fine. I’m fine.”

“Guys,” Prentiss called. When they met her in the bedroom, the air was knocked out of Spencer’s lungs. 

The room was torn apart, there were obvious signs of a struggle. But what shocked Spencer the most was the picture of him with (Y/N) in her apartment when he was trying to comfort her, his face scribbled out in red ink. The bottom of the picture was simply the word WHORE, written in the same red ink.

Morgan looked around the room. “We need to find her, fast.”

~

They found the unsub, but not (Y/N). Jeremy Sullivan was sitting in the interrogation room, but you were still missing. Spencer was pacing on the other side of the mirror. Rossi and Morgan agreed to let him stew for a while. 

Garcia was able to track where he’d met you. It was Valentine’s Day at the coffee shop down the road from your office. You’d noticed he dropped his bag and you picked it up for him, smiling at him.

Spencer and Morgan finally went in to interrogate Sullivan. When Spencer saw the man sitting there, all cocky with his legs propped up on the table, he snapped. 

He slammed his hands on the metal table. “Where is she?” he all-but yelled at the man in front of him. When the man just scoffed, Spencer felt his temper rise. “You think just because a woman is kind to you, you’re entitled to fuck her, you son of a bitch?”

“Reid!” Morgan yelled.

“Out, now,” Hotch said, coming into the room.

“Hotch-”

“ _Now_.”

Spencer stormed out of the room, pushing past a concerned Emily. He sat down at his desk, his head buried in his hands. 

Rossi sat down next to Spencer. “What’s going on with you, Reid? You’ve never talked to anyone like that, ever. What really happened between you and (Y/N)?” he asked, his voice gentle. 

Spencer looked up at him, his eyes rimmed red with tears. “I was the classmate tormented by (Y/N)’s ex. I was his favorite target, he treated me like absolute shit. I don’t know if I would have made it through my senior year without her. She probably saved my life.” Spencer ran his fingers through his hair. “I fell in love with her.”

Rossi patted the boy’s shoulder. “We’ll find her, Spencer.”

“We have an address,” Hotch said, storming out of the room. “Let’s go.”

~

You were scared- scratch that, you were terrified. You were tied to a kitchen chair and afraid of what the man would do when he came back. Tears steadily rolled down your face. Your lip was split and your eye was swollen. Your neck was bruising in the shape of a hand. 

When you heard the door open, you sniffled, trying to stop the tears. The man didn’t like you crying. 

“(Y/N)?” Spencer turned the corner, his kevlar vest on and his gun out. When he saw you, he dropped his gun and ran over to you. “Oh, my god.” He got to work untying the ropes from your wrists. “You’re alright, you’re gonna be alright.”

You wrapped your arms around Spencer’s neck, sobbing into his shoulder. Spencer gently ran his fingers through your hair.

“We need a medic,” Rossi said into his comm set. “Spencer.”

Spencer went to let you go, but you grabbed onto him. “Don’t leave me. Please.”

When you were sitting on the back of the ambulance, Spencer was dabbing the blood off your lip. You smiled and huffed out a laugh, shaking your head slightly.

“What is it?” Spencer asked you.

“Just… all those years ago, I was cleaning you up. Now you’re wiping blood off my lip.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do, Spencer.”

Spencer continued dabbing your lip with the gauze, avoiding your eyes. “You know, I had a huge crush on you in high school. But I knew nothing would ever happen. You know, I was 12, you were 17.”

“Well, you’re not 12 anymore, Spencer.”

“Ms. (L/N), we’re ready to take you to the hospital,” one of the EMTs said. You waved to Spencer before being led into the ambulance. 

~

You woke up in a panic, your heart racing and your breathing heavy. Your neck burned, the ghost of _his_ hands like hot metal. You felt like the walls were closing in around you. You wrapped your arms around your stomach, trying to steady your breathing. You got up and walked into your kitchen, rooting around in your cabinet for some tea. You set a kettle on to boil and stood staring at the water, not quite seeing it.

“Hey.”

You spun around quickly, but relaxed when you saw the familiar mop of curls. “Hey,” you sighed before turning back to the kettle. 

Spencer walked over to you and wrapped his arms around you, resting his chin on your shoulder. “Bad dream again?” You nodded and set a teabag in your mug. “Was it him?” You nodded again, turning around to face your boyfriend, hiding your face in his chest. 

“It’s been almost two years,” you said. “I should be over it by now.”

“Hey.” Spencer pulled back to look at you. “We all heal at different paces. And what you went through was traumatic. No one expects you to be completely recovered.” He kissed the top of your head, wrapping his arms around you and just swaying in the kitchen with you. 

“I love you, Spencer Reid.”

Even though you’d been dating Spencer for 1 year, 9 months, and 16 days, every time you said I love you, Spencer’s heart felt like it was going to explode.

“I love you too, (Y/N) (L/N).”

~

_“There is no remedy for love, but to love more.” -Thoreau_


End file.
